New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asserted the importance of technology in wildlife conservation saying,”With its help we are creating a balance with wild animals.”
“Its happy to know that technology is being used extensively for the conservation of wildlife in different parts of our country” PM Modi said during his Mann Ki Baat programme.
PM Modi said, with help of Artificial Intelligence is being taken to reduce conflict between humans and tigers in Chandrapur district.
The Prime Minister’s remarks came after various incidents of animal attack are being reported in various parts of the country, including Wayanad district of Kerala.
As per government data for 2022-23 recorded 8,873 wild animal attacks, of which, 4193 were by wild elephants, 1524 by wild boars, 193 by tigers, 244 by leopards, and 32 by bison. Of 98 reported deaths, 27 were due to elephant attacks.
In Kerala, 17 people lost their lives in elephant attacks during 2023-2024. This is a decrease from the 27 deaths reported in 2022-2023 and 35 in 2021-2022.
According to Forest sources in Jharkhand, over 100 people are killed annually in elephant attacks on an average.
The Karnataka Forest department reported 148 human fatalities due to human-elephant conflict in the last five years.
Additionally, Odisha, Assam, and West Bengal collectively lost 499, 385, and 358 people, respectively, in human-animal conflicts over the same five-year period, as stated by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Prime Minister also explained the importance of ‘World Wildlife Day’ which will be held on 3rd of March every year.
“This day is celebrated with the aim of spreading awareness on the conservation of wild animals. This year, Digital Innovation has been kept paramount in the theme of the World Wild Life Day” he added.
PM Modi added that during the the last few years, through the efforts of the government, the number of tigers in the country has increased. The number of tigers in the Tiger Reserve of Chandrapur, Maharashtra has risen to more than 250.
Speaking about the role of Artificial Intelligence in wildlife, he said with the help of Artificial Intelligence is being taken to reduce conflict between humans and tigers in Chandrapur district.
“Here cameras have been installed on the border of the villages and the forest. Whenever a tiger comes near a village; with the help of AI, local people get an alert on their mobile. Today, this system has provided a lot of convenience to the people in the 13 villages around this Tiger Reserve and the tigers have also got protection” he noted.
He also gave some examples about the initiative taken by the young entrepreneurs in the field of wildlife conservation.
In Roorkee, Uttarakhand, Rotor Precision Group in collaboration with Wildlife Institute of India has developed a drone which is helping to keep an eye on the crocodiles in the Ken River. Similarly, a Bengaluru company has prepared an app named ‘Bagheera’ and ‘Garuda’.
With the Bagheera App, the speed of the vehicle and other activities can be monitored during a jungle safari.
It is being used in many Tiger Reserves of the country. The Garuda App, based on Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, starts providing real time alerts on connecting it to any CCTV.
“With every such effort towards conservation of wildlife, the biodiversity of our country is becoming richer, PM Modi said.
